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Why didn’t I know that?

10 Facts About the Bible Most People Don’t Know

1 – Adam was still alive when Methuselah and his son Lamech (Noah‘s father) was born.

2 – The Bible can be read aloud in 70 hours.

3 – According to science, the twelve events in Moses’s account of creation are correct and in the right order. (Which is impossible to guess)

4 – There are 8,674 different Hebrew words in the Bible, 5,624 different Greek words, and 12,143 different English words in the King James Version.

5- The Biblical prophet Daniel lived during the same century as the Chinese philosopher Confucius.

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“Knowledge is Power”

6- Christ was born in 4 BC.

7 –  No one knows when Job lived. 

8 – Noah’s son Shem was still alive when Abraham was born =Abraham could have learned the history of the world from Shem. Who learned about Adam on down from his grandfather and then passed it to his great-great-great (8 greats) grandson Abraham.

9- Who came first? Queen Esther or Daniel?
They both lived during the Babylonian captivity. Esther’s book is first in the Bible, but she lived nearly a century after Daniel – toward the end of the captivity.

10 – The Greek poet Homer lived about the same time as King Solomon.

What have you learned from the Bible Timeline that you didn’t know before? Share your discoveries with a comment below. 🙂

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Esau married Judith and Bashmeth, Hittites

Esau is the elder twin brother of Jacob, sons of Isaac and Rebekah.

At the age of 40, he married his first two wives, Judith and Bashemath, who both came from the  Canaanite tribe of the Hittites. This event is listed on the Biblical Timeline Poster around 1829 BC. Judith is the daughter of Beeri the Hittite while Bashemath is the daughter of Elon the Hittite.

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Esau's Wives
“Hittite chariot, from an Egyptian relief”

His union with the two Canaanite women was against the wishes of his parents. Hittite women were considered heathens of Canaan at that time. Which was because of their ungodly ways of idolatry and adultery.

In Genesis 36, Esau’s two Canaanite wives were again mentioned; however, they went with different names from that of the wives referred in Genesis 26 and 28. In this later chapter, his wives were named Adah, the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Aholibamah, the daughter of Anah, daughter of Zibeon the Hivite. His third wife was called Bashemath, Ishmael’s daughter and Nebajoth’s sister. Scholars have since equated the three wives with those mentioned in earlier chapters.

When Esau saw that his father blessed Jacob, sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife, and commanded him not to marry any daughter of the degenerate Canaanites, he changed his evil ways. He went to visit his uncle Ishmael and married his cousin, Mahalath, whose name means “forgiveness.” By merit of his latest marriage, God forgave Esau all his sins.

After his father’s death, Esau took his wives, children, servants, and cattle to move away from Jacob and settle at Mount Seir.

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The Ark of the Covenant, Taken and Returned (1180 BC)

The Ark of the Covenant wasn’t always in the hands of the Israelites. It was taken from them by the Philistines for a period of time until it was returned. This event is listed on the Bible Timeline Poster around 1180 BC.

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The Ark of the Covenant is a wooden chest with a pure gold covering that contains the two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments. It was created at Sinai using the pattern given by God to Moses (Ex. 25:10-22; 37:1-9). The Ark served as Israel’s guide in the journey through the wilderness (Num. 10:33-36). It also served as a symbol of God’s presence (I Sam 4:4).

The Ark
“Joshua passing the River Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant”

The Ark was brought by the Israelites throughout their travel in the desert and during wars. When they set to conquer Canaan under the leadership of Joshua, they carried the Ark with them, and the Jordan River split allowing them to pass into the land of Canaan (Josh. 3). In the Battle of Jericho, their first battle in the conquest of Canaan, they carried the Ark and marched around the city for days with armed men and the seven priests sounding the seven trumpets. On the seventh day, the wall of Jericho fell and the Israelites took over the city (Josh. 6). After the conquest, Joshua set up the Ark, together with the tabernacle, in Shiloh (Josh. 18). The Ark remained in Shiloh until the battle between the Israelites and the Philistines during the time of Eli.

When the Israelites were defeated by the Philistines, they took the Ark to Eben-ezer hoping to win the next battle. However they were defeated again, and the Ark was taken by the Philistines (I Sam. 4:3-5, 10, 11). In Shiloh, the High Priest Eli fell dead upon hearing the news of the Ark’s capture (I Sam. 4:12-18).

The Philistines brought the Ark with them to their capital city, Ashdod and put it in the temple of their idol god Dagon. However, on the next day, the statue of Dagon had fallen to the ground. The same thing happened again the following day. Soon after, the city of Ashdod suffered misfortune as plague after plague struck the city. The Ark was moved to the city of Gath and then Ekron, but the plague continued (I Sam. 5:1-12).

After keeping the Ark for seven months, the Philistines decided to return it to the Israelites together with offerings of expensive gifts upon the advice of their diviners and priests. The Ark was brought back to Beit Shemesh and then transported to Kiryat Yearim, where it stayed for twenty years (I Sam. 6:1-18, 21; 7:1-2).

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Mound Builders in Illinois (1000 B.C.)

Mound Builders were ancient civilizations that inhabited North America and built earthen mounds for religious, burial, ceremonial, and residential purposes during a 5,000-year period. They are listed on the Bible Timeline Poster starting around 1000 BC. The mound builders are divided into three groups: the Adena culture, the Hopewell culture, and the Mississippian culture. The Adena and Hopewell cultures were prominent during the Woodland period, which lasted from 1000 BC to 700 AD.

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The Hopewell culture originated from southern Illinois and spread into Ohio and across the Midwest region. Their influence, however, extended from the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachians. The Hopewell people were renowned for their geometric earthworks. They built large dome-shaped or conical burial mounds with elaborate earthen walls. Some mounds even reaching 65 ft. They also built mounds that were effigies of animals. The areas of their geometric enclosures ranged from 2.5 to 120 acres or 1 to 50 hectares. Their earthworks were generally of ritual architecture.

The Hopewell people were skilled in crafts and arts. They made ceramic pots, wove mats, and even carved figures from metals, bones, and woods. They were also skilled in making spear points and knives. They had animal skins for clothing and wore jewelry from copper and shells. From the Illinois Valley, the Hopewell culture had spread by way of trading using well-developed trade routes. Major Hopewell settlements can be found in Ohio, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, New York, and Ontario.

Mound Builders
“The popular “Great Serpent Mound” situated in southern Ohio was constructed by the Adena culture.”

Before the emergence of the Hopewell culture, there was the Adena culture. The Adena is sometimes thought of as a precursor to the traditions of the Hopewell culture. The first group of mound builders, the Adena built small burial mounds of about 20-300 feet in diameter in Ohio, West Virginia, and the nearby states. The popular “Great Serpent Mound” situated in southern Ohio was constructed by the Adena culture. Following Hopewell was the Mississippian culture. It is the third group of mound builders, extending from the Mississippi Valley to Alabama, Georgia, and then Florida. The culture built large flat-topped mounds on which temples and meeting houses/residences were built.

Not much is known on why the three mound building cultures ended. Experts believe that invading tribes and warfare greatly contributed to it. What remains of these cultures are the earthworks they have built, which are scattered in several areas of North America.

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Was King Tut the Pharaoh of the Exodus?

Since the pharaoh, who appears alongside Moses in the Exodus story is nameless, we are left with our best guesses and detective work. One of the most recent guesses comes from a Jewish scholar working in Jerusalem. He suggests that the Pharaoh of the Exodus was none other than King Tutankhamen.

He finds two chronological clues in the Bible: 1) the Israelites worked with mud-brick, not stone (5:7-8); 2) the Israelites spent 430 years in Egypt (from Joseph to Moses) (Ex. 12:40). These events are listed on the Bible Timeline Chart.
PRO: A Building of Mud-Brick
Most building projects in Egypt (the pyramids and temples) involved stone-work. The one major mud-brick building project was the city of Akhetaten. Akhenaten built this city as a new religious center for the worship of one god, Aten.

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King_Tut
“Stripped of all its jewels, the mummy of Tutankhamun remains in the Valley of the Kings in his KV62 chamber”

One God
His new program of radical monotheism was not very popular among the Egyptian religious and political establishment. This meant he had to work quickly. The choice of mud-brick as the building material for this new city helped with that very short timeline. They completed the entire city in six years. Eight years later, Akhenaten died, and the city was evacuated.
Reference to Plagues
Since the pharaoh who built the city with Israelite labor died before the Exodus events (Ex. 2:23), his son Tutankhamen would then be the Pharaoh of the Exodus. In his article in the Jerusalem Post, you would think the Egyptian stela was talking directly about the Exodus. In talking about the stele, Rosenberg cites the following curses: 1) Hapi, god of the Nile, will make it undrinkable; 2) Kermit, goddess of fertility, will release her frogspawn; 3) Osiris, god of corn, will allow locusts to eat the grain; 4) Ra, the sun god, will refuse to shine.
CON – Plagues not actually listed
Unfortunately, things that look too good to be true usually are. The only thing the restoration stele of Tutankhamen says is that the gods turned their back on the land. It does not give any specifics about curses. It does not even mention the specific gods by name. It is Rosenberg, who took the plagues recorded in the Exodus and linked them with specific Egyptian deities.
Question of Dates
The Hyksos from 1720 – 1550 BC
Rosenberg also makes a follow-up point. He points to the Hyksos, a Semitic people group. They entered Egypt in large numbers around 1750 BC. They became so dominant that they ruled Egypt for close to 200 years (1720-1550 BC). Josephus was a Jewish historian and a contemporary of Jesus. He thought that the Israelites entered Egypt with this group.

Remember the high position Joseph held in the Egyptian government? This made perfect sense during this period of Semitic rule in Egypt. This was followed by a stark shift in power between the 15th and 18th dynasty. The Semites lost power whereas the native Egyptians regained it. Could this help explain the shift in attitude on the part of the Egyptian government towards Israel? Israel thrives as a minority under Joseph. But the Pharaoh “who did not know Joseph” turns them into an oppressed minority. Rosenberg points out that Jews and Christians alike ignore the specific information on Israel’s time in Egypt (Exodus 12:40). Even the Amazing Bible Timeline follows Bishop Ussher in assigning 130 years to this period rather than 430. His dates restore this original figure.
The City and Pharoahs Ramses
But there is good reason Rosenberg is practically alone in arguing for King Tut as the Pharaoh of the Exodus. He ignores the two primary pieces of evidence that most commentators cite. One is a chronological note in 1 Kings 6:1. The second is the reference to the city Rameses.

Most Christian and secular scholars today base their arguments on the city of Rameses. Ramses is a personal name meaning “son of Ra.” 11 different pharaohs bore this name. They ruled between the 13th and 12th centuries BC. Regardless of the identification of this city, it should be one named after one of these kings. Not only that, there happens to be a city called Per-Ramessu (Pi-Ramesse). It happens to be located in the Nile Delta, where the Bible situates it. It was also built with slave labor. The name of these slave laborers was the ʿApiru’. Many scholars connect this word with the Hebrew word for “Hebrews.” It was Ramses II who orchestrated this building project. This city functioned as the seat of Egyptian power throughout the 19th and 20th dynasties. Moses does make a reference in Genesis to Joseph living in “the land of Rameses.” But one can easily explain this as a reference to the area Moses knew by this later name.
A Difference in Spelling?
Critics of this position argue that there is no reason to identify Rameses the city with the pharaoh’s name Ramses. Their main argument is that the two names are spelled differently, Raamses as opposed to Ramesses. This is a difficult position as the Bible only mentions the place Rameses and not the pharaoh. The Hebrew contains the letters resh-ayin-mem-samekh-samekh (rʿmss). The Egyptian uses the letters r-ayin-m-s2-w (rʿmśśw). The final /w/ indicates the vowel u and Hebrew lost all final short vowels. But this is the crux of the rebuttal.

There is another group of scholars who emphasize a different piece of evidence. They focus on 1 Kings 6:1. It states that Solomon broke ground on the Temple in Jerusalem 480 years after the Exodus. Scholars vary in the dates they assign the temple construction. Recent scholars have placed the date as low as 958 BC. The Amazing Bible Timeline gives a date of 1011 BC for this event. Adding 480 years would place the Exodus at the beginning of the 15th century BC. This corresponds to the 18th dynasty of Egypt. These two pieces of evidence were easy to reconcile for scholars in the 17th century like Bishop Ussher. The Greek histories of Egypt easily placed Ramses II in the 15th century. Archeological excavations in the 19th and 20th centuries changed all that. We now have direct access to the Egyptian language and thousands of Egyptian texts.
Possible Reconciliation of View Points
Critics of this position point to a number of concerns. The number 480 is a very round number. It corresponds to 12 generations of 40 years. The authors of the Biblical text were not saying 480 years exactly. Rather they were using a standard number to indicate 12 generations. Adjusting the length of a generation still preserves the integrity of the Biblical text. Another way to do it is to add up the years given for events from the Exodus to the temple. This method produces a period of 510 years plus 3 periods of unknown length. This suggests that these events may overlap in ways the Bible does not bother explaining.

Wherever we locate the events of the Exodus, they clearly had a significant impact on how Israelites viewed themselves. It was also central to their view of God.

What do you think? Was King Tut the Pharaoh of the Exodus? Comment below.

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All Saints Day

Also known as All Hallows Day, this holiday is commonly celebrated on Nov 1st. It is a time set aside to remember and honor all church saints throughout history.

All_Souls_Day

In the beginning, martyrs were honored on the day of their individual death. Eventually, churches started consolidating them into a single day in order to remember them all at once. This is the origin of All Saints Day.  It started in Rome around the 7th Century after Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon.

All Saints Day has a variety of meanings for different churches. Click here if you would like to learn more about this holiday.

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World Teacher’s Day

World Teacher’s Day occurs once a year on October 5 starting 1994 in honor of teachers’ associations all over the world. The goal was to create support for teachers and to see that the needs of the generations in the future would still be met by teachers. Sunday School teachers are equally important. They provide knowledge, support, and wisdom about the Bible.

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Child_Labor
With the Industrial Revolution, numerous children were working all week long in factories.

But Sunday School itself has a very important history that started in the 1780s where a movement was beginning to provide more poor children with the chance to learn how to read.

With the Industrial Revolution, numerous children were working all week long in factories. For many years, work hours extended through most of the day. Eventually, the average work day was taken down to 12 hours for children in 1802. Considering that Saturday during those times was also considered a part of the work week, Sunday became the only day in which these children could learn.

Happy World Teacher’s Day!

From the article http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/asktheexpert/whendidsundayschoolstart.html

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The end of the Berlin Wall A result of Prayer?

November 9, 1989, is recorded in history as the moment when the Berlin Wall was taken down. However, the prayer meeting that took place precisely one month before contributed greatly to its demise.

Despite the danger of death and in the face of armed police, thousands came together at the St Nicholas Church in the East German city to pray for peace. Afterwards, they joined with around 70,000 demonstrators and walked through Leipzig on October 9, 1989, to object the country’s communist government.

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Berlin_Wall
“The Fall of the Berlin Wall, 1989. The photo shows a part of a public photo documentation wall at the Brandenburg Gate, Berlin.”

This was the greatest spontaneous protest ever seen in that region resulting from years of regular prayer meetings started by Christian Führer, the pastor of St Nicholas.

These prayers began as a quest in 1982 for peace in a war-torn world.

Click here to read more about it.

Picture Reference:
“Thefalloftheberlinwall1989” by Lear 21 at English Wikipedia. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thefalloftheberlinwall1989.JPG#/media/File:Thefalloftheberlinwall1989.JPG
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Arcadius, 395 AD

During the reign of Arcadius, there were numerous developments that took place which helped elevate the political and economic situation in Eastern Rome. However, the events that took place in the life of Arcadius was associated with significant challenges. Initially, he had little power because Rufinus assumed supremacy over Arcadius. As a result, the early years of Arcadius involved many difficulties from the power struggle between him and Rufinus and eventually Eutropius. His reign is listed on the Bible Timeline Chart with World History during 395 AD.

Background

Flavius Arcadius was the son of Aelia Flavia Flacilla and the great General Theodosius. His father was initially in charge of putting an end to the Visigoths‘ invasions which made the lives of the Balkans difficult. In fact, it was a grueling period for the Romans since the Visigoths and Ostrogoths gained considerable power as they defeated the Roman army. The death of Emperor Valens also added to the increasing problems of the empire. Theodosius’ first task appeared nearly insurmountable because of the challenges headed his way.

Theodosius was determined to give his son some legitimacy as a ruler in case he died while undertaking his campaigns. It was in 383 AD when the young Arcadius was given the title Augustus at a tender age of 5 or 6. Which was the year after, Honorius, the second son of Theodosius, was born. Honorius was only given the office of consul posterior, unlike Arcadius who had a higher political position.

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Arcadius
“The emperor also sought the help of Constantinople’s religious and political leaders, which was one of his strategies in strengthening the power of the empire.”

Early Career

Arcadius received less independence during his early years in politics. During the late 380 AD, Theodosius assigned Tatian as the de facto emperor, and Arcadius had little power at this time. Titian soon became more powerful in the city of Constantinople, and this allowed him to gain more supremacy than the future emperors of Rome. In 392, Rufinus replaced Tatian and this new minister held greater authority. Meanwhile, Arcadius continued to be placed under the guardianship of high-ranked officials even until the death of Theodosius.

Arcadius 395 AD and Onwards

Before Arcadius formally began his rule in the eastern Roman Empire, he received an education from Themistius, who was a notable philosopher, speaker, and statesman. There were assumptions that this educator influenced Arcadius greatly in terms of the young ruler’s yearning to become an independent force. He also enacted laws that were anti-paganism and anti-heresy, thus granting him a reputation as a pious and devout Christian emperor. The emperor also sought the help of Constantinople’s religious and political leaders, which was one of his strategies in strengthening the power of the empire.

With Rufinus still possessing greater political power in the empire, Arcadius had less control of eastern Rome. In fact, Rufinus made Arcadius order the return of eastern armies; recognizing the pending dangers with regard to his power since he was a westerner currently ruling the east. There was also the tension existing between east and west as Stilicho, who was controlling Honorius’ reign in the west, took control of the eastern and western Roman armies. Stilicho also insisted in his guardianship and influence over Arcadius.

Arcadius’ early exposure in politics was a challenge, and it continued even when later in his career. Nevertheless, he exerted great efforts in banishing paganism and heresy during his rule, as well as creating stronger ties with the religious leaders and local government in Constantinople. This earned him a positive reputation.